His World, not Mine

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

By the time we got back to my room, my head was already spinning. Everything felt like it was happening too fast.

The door barely shut behind us before Cash let out a low whistle. “So this is dorm life, huh?” he said, looking around like he had just stepped into a museum exhibit. “I’ve heard about it… never thought I’d experience it. And honestly? I still don’t want to.”

He shook his head dramatically. “Couldn’t be me. Thank God my parents are rich.”

I froze. The words hit before I could stop them from sinking in.

Cash must have seen the look on my face because he quickly raised his hands. “No offense.”

Missy frowned at him immediately. “You shouldn’t have said that.”

He shrugged, “What? Can a man not express himself again?”

MJ didn’t even bother responding to him. She stepped closer to me instead, her voice softer. “Hey… you okay?”

I nodded, even though I wasn’t entirely sure that I was.

“I’m just… nervous,” I admitted. “About the party.”

Cash scoffed lightly. “Nervous? Please. Once I’m done with you, that won’t be your problem.”

“What will be my problem then?”

“The number of guys trying to talk to you,” he said confidently.

I almost laughed.

“Look at you all,” I said instead, glancing at their outfits. “You’re already dressed like you’re going to some red carpet.” My eyes lingered on them for a second longer.

“Damn rich kids…” I muttered under my breath.

It slipped out before I could stop it, and suddenly, I became very aware of the difference again. My parents wouldn’t even be able to afford the ribbon in Missy’s hair. And here I was living in a school dorm because I couldn’t afford anything else.

“Do you have anything to wear?” MJ asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head. “No.”

Cash gasped dramatically. “Oh my God,” he said, already moving toward my wardrobe. “This is a crisis.”

“Cash…” I started, but he was already opening it, he paused, then slowly turned back to me with a grin.

“Oh, Emma…” he said. “You’ve got potential.”

I frowned, “You’re joking, right?”

He ignored me completely and started pulling things out. One dress, then another. Holding them up, tilting his head, and making faces.

“No… no… absolutely not… hmm… maybe… no.”

I stood there, confused, watching him go through my clothes like he was on a mission. Was he serious? Or just being dramatic?

His eyes lit up, “Oh.” He clapped once, a wide smile spreading across his face. “There you are,” he said. “The real deal.”

“What?”

“Chop chop,” he waved the dress towards me.

I recognised it immediately, the dress from my middle-school graduation, the one I’d hoped I’d never have to wear again.

“Go get dressed.”

Before I could argue, the dress was already in my hands. I hesitated for a second, then turned and walked into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, I stepped back out. The room went silent, Cash’s eyes widened. “Well…” he said slowly. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

I looked down at myself, unsure.

“It’s not done yet,” he added quickly, already moving again.

Before I could react, he was back at my wardrobe pulling out accessories, shoes, and random pieces I didn’t even know I had.

“Stand still,” he ordered.

I obeyed without thinking.

Missy and MJ watched from the side, both smiling, while Cash moved around me like an artist working on a masterpiece. Adjusting, fixing, and changing small details. I didn’t understand what he was doing, but somehow it was working.

By the time he stepped back, I barely recognized myself. I looked so different. For the first time since I got here, I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong. I felt like I could almost fit in.

“Now that,” Cash said proudly, “is what I’m talking about.”

MJ smiled, “You look amazing.”

Missy nodded quickly, “Really… you do.”

I let out a small breath, still staring at myself. “Thank you,” I said softly.

Cash slapped his hands once. “Alright! Enough emotions. It’s time to party, hot girl.”

We stepped out of my room together, laughter lighter now, energy different. But as we walked out of the school building, the nerves crept back in. What if they didn’t want me there? What if this made everything worse?

“How are we getting there?” I asked.

Cash smirked, “With style.” He pulled out his car keys and clicked a button.

A sharp beep echoed across the parking lot, I turned toward the sound and my legs felt like lead.

A sleek white car sat under the dim lights, shining like it didn’t belong in the same world as me.

“Is that…?”

“Yeah.” Cash grinned.

I couldn’t even find the words, it looked expensive. Everything here was.

He walked ahead and opened the door like it was nothing. “Hop in, ladies.”

MJ nudged me slightly. I snapped out of it and followed, sliding into the car, still trying to process everything. Missy took the front seat.

Cash got in last, the engine humming smoothly to life, and just like that we were on our way to Jane’s house.

By the time we pulled up, I already knew this wasn’t just a party. It was something else entirely.

The moment we stepped out of Cash’s car, the noise hit me first, music blasting, laughter spilling into the night, voices overlapping in a chaotic rhythm.

Then I looked up and stumbled. Jane’s house wasn’t a house. It was a mansion. Lights glowed from every corner, the building stretching wide and tall like something out of a movie. Cars lined the driveway, expensive ones, sleek and polished like they belonged in a showroom.

People were everywhere. Westbridge students filled the place, moving in groups, laughing shouting, living like this was normal. Like it was their world and I’m just stepping into it.

“Now this,” Cash said beside me, clearly impressed, “is a party.” He didn’t wait for a response before walking ahead, dragging Missy along with him.

MJ tapped my arm lightly. “This is it,” she said. “Go mingle.”

Before I could even respond, she was gone too, I was alone.

I stepped inside slowly, my eyes scanning everything at once. The interior was even worse, or better. I wasn’t sure anymore.

Crystal lights hung from the ceiling, reflecting across the polished floors. The walls were decorated with art I couldn’t even begin to understand. Everything looked like it had never known what it meant to be out of reach.

People were drunk, some dancing, some laughing too loudly. Some were pressed against walls, kissing as if no one else existed.

I stood there for a second, completely lost. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. This wasn’t my world, but I have to try.

I spotted a table filled with drinks and made my way towards it. Maybe if I just held something… I’d look less out of place. Less like I didn’t belong.

I picked up a cup, scanning the bottles, and it was alcohol. All of it, I hesitated, then poured just a little into my cup. Just enough to blend in. To feel like I wasn’t completely different.

When I lifted it slightly, staring at it, I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned, and my heart misfired.

Adrian.

Standing right there, for a second, I forgot how to breathe. “I… I…” The apology got stuck in my throat like a dry pill. “I’m… sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to… I just… I’m sorry.” I managed, the words sounding pathetic over the music's bass.

He looked at me with no reaction, nothing. “You talk too much,” he said quietly, his eyes holding mine like I was something under a microscope. “For someone who hits first.”

“Really?” The word came out louder than I intended. I quickly covered my mouth, glancing around but the music was too loud for anyone to notice.

I swallowed, trying to regain myself. Slowly, I stretched out my hand. “I’m Emma,” I said.

He looked at it, but didn’t take it. Instead, his gaze moved from my face down to my outfit then back up again.

My face felt like it had been held too close to a radiator. Before I could pull my hand back properly, a voice cut in.

“Babe.” A girl stepped beside him, wrapping her arms around him as if she belonged there. It was Jane.

She barely looked at me at first.

“I need you at the pool,” she said to him casually. Then her eyes shifted. Landed on me.

And everything changed, her expression hardened instantly.

“Wait…” she said slowly. “Isn’t this the b***h that slapped you?”

My hand dropped completely. I didn’t even get the chance to respond. The slap came fast; I didn’t even see her hand move. The sound cracked through the air before the pain did, sharp, burning, immediate. My head snapped to the side.

“That’s for touching my man,” she said coldly and spat on me.

For a second everything went silent in my head but not around me, I could feel the cold spray of her spit hit my shoulder, and I could hear the ice clinking in someone’s glass nearby, that was the only sound besides the music, no one defended me.

Instead, people were reacting, laughing, whispering while some were raising their phones recording me again. Not one person stepped forward.

I stood there, humiliated. I looked at Adrian. He didn’t say anything nor did he stop her, but for a second his jaw tightened and then he looked away.

Just like that, they walked away together, like I didn’t matter. I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t breathe.

Without thinking, I lifted the cup in my hand and gulped everything down. The burn hit my throat immediately, but I didn’t care. I just needed something to block everything else out.

Then I turned and walked out of the house. I sat on the stairs outside, my hands shaking slightly. I wasn’t bothered about who saw me. I didn’t care about anything anymore.

The tears came before I could stop them. “I hate this…” I whispered to myself. “I hate this so much…”

Footsteps approached, it was soft and careful. Then someone sat beside me. Missy.

She didn’t say anything at first, she just stayed there.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” I said, my voice breaking. “I shouldn’t have come to this school.”

She looked at me quietly.

“Nobody likes me,” I continued. “I don’t belong here. I don’t fit in. I just… keep messing everything up.”

My chest tightened again.

“I want to leave,” I admitted. “Maybe I should just go back home. Start over somewhere else. Somewhere I actually belong.”

Missy didn’t respond immediately. For a moment, she just sat there, thinking. Then she said softly, “Let’s wait until morning.”

I nodded, but deep down, I already knew. Morning wasn’t going to fix anything. If anything, it was only going to make things worse.